Disney Epic Mickey Review - Wii

Game Description:Disney Epic Mickey is an action-adventure platforming game for the Wii console that sends Mickey Mouse on an epic journey of creativity and discovery. As Mickey, the player is propelled into Wasteland, an alternate world made up of Disney’s forgotten creative efforts, and is given the power to wield paint and paint thinner to dynamically change the world while determining Mickey’s path to becoming an epic hero.
Through the use of this unique paint and paint thinner, the key components of animation and Mickey’s tools for impacting his world, players will have the ability to shape how the story unfolds as they discover the concept of “Playstyle Matters” an innovative style of gameplay created by Disney Interactive Studios’ Junction Point, led by industry luminary Warren Spector, where players creatively tackle different challenges in the world to explore all the possibilities and storylines but with consequences for their chosen actions.

Disney Epic Mickey Review

Legendary designer Warren Spector and the Junction Point Studios team have delivered a dark, weird, and wonderful treat in the form of Disney Epic Mickey. Mickey Mouse has been sucked into a twisted reflection of Disneyland populated by forgotten Disney characters from the early days of animation. He must escape this Wasteland and possibly help the inhabitants conquer an evil that Mickey himself has unleashed upon them.

The Cons

Camera can be difficult to manage

2D sidescrolling levels must be repeated often while traveling between areas

Disney Epic Mickey Review:

It has been my experience that Disney Epic Mickey has been the source of much confusion among players. Some believe it’s a kiddy title, some dismiss it as a cartoony third-person platformer, and others have no idea what to think of it. In truth, Disney Epic Mickey is a love letter to early Disney animation, Disneyland itself, and Mickey Mouse’s history of not being just a comedic character, but a heroic one. It’s a third-person platformer that is also part RPG, part morality test, and even a bit of a trivia quiz for those who care to dig a bit. It’s also the best Disney game to see the light of day since the 16-bit era.

Epic Mickey has its roots in creative director Warren Spector’s love for Disney animation and the history of the risky enterprise that Walt Disney built into an empire in the mid-twentieth century. It begins with Mickey walking through the mirror in his bedroom, in a to-the-frame recreation of the beginning of the classic animated short Through the Mirror. On the other side, he finds Yen Sid, the sorcerer from The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, building an alternate version of Disneyland for the rejected and forgotten characters of Disney history using a magic paintbrush. Upon Yen Sid’s departure, Mickey begins messing with the paintbrush and manages to not only create a malicious inky monster called the Shadow Blot, but also spills thinner across the new park. Mickey makes a hasty getaway before Yen Sid returns, but the damage has been done. Years later, the Shadow Blot pops out of Mickey’s mirror and drags him back through, down into the now ravaged world he ruined so long ago. This dark reflection of Disneyland is called Wasteland, and the thinner Mickey spilled has turned it into a bleak and horrible place.

Leader of the Club

The leader of Wasteland is Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Walt Disney’s flagship character when he was making cartoons for Universal in the 1920s. After losing the rights to Oswald due to contractual stipulations, Disney started his own studio, created Mickey Mouse, and the rest is, of course, history. Disney Epic Mickey marks Oswald’s first appearance in an original Disney property in over 80 years (although, strangely enough, not his first appearance in a videogame, as he guest-starred in a Woody Woodpecker Sega Master System game released in Brazil in 1996). Naturally, Oswald is a bit resentful of his ultra-successful half-brother, and so Mickey’s quest in Wasteland leads him to win the trust of Oswald and stop the Shadow Blot.

Whether Mickey wins that trust or not is entirely up to the player. Before the Blot pulls him into Wasteland, Mickey manages to snag the aforementioned magic paintbrush, which lets him fire off Paint and Thinner. Streams of blue Paint can re-create and restore objects and characters in Wasteland, while Thinner will dissolve and destroy them. The environments in the game are extremely changeable due to this. Load of boulders in the way? You could find a platforming method around them, or maybe just use Thinner to dissolve the ground beneath them and drop them out of your way. But is there something underneath that the boulders will damage or crush? Enemies can be thinned into oblivion or painted until they become your friend. This applies to bosses, as well, and boss fights can turn out very differently depending on which flavor of magic liquid you choose to lean on.

Each approach has its advantages and disadvantages, but it basically breaks down to Paint being the helpful choice and Thinner being the quick and selfish choice. You control your Paint and Thinner streams with the Wii remote, which is thankfully about as intuitive a process as you can get with motion controls. Because the reticule does not also control the viewpoint camera, it’s very easy to settle into using the Wiimote as a natural extension of the control scheme.

Accomplishing things using Paint often tends to be more difficult, but leads to more heroic outcomes, while Thinner will accomplish Mickey’s goals at the expense of others’ needs and, occasionally, their well-being. Your choices add up, and will drastically affect how characters in Wasteland react to you. It’s not really “good” or “evil,” as Mickey is not an evil character, but Disney Epic Mickey does give you the opportunity to play him as a bit of a jerk at times. This is actually a return to form for Mickey, whose early portrayals were often that of a more mischievous nature than the squeaky clean corporate logo he’s known as today.

Wasteland itself is a dark reflection of Disneyland, featuring twisted but familiar equivalents of every major location in the Anaheim theme park. Main Street becomes Mean Street, Tommorrowland becomes Tomorrow City, ToonTown becomes OsTown, and the Matterhorn becomes the phenomenally realized Mickeyjunk Mountain, a massive peak constructed entirely of old Mickey Mouse memorabilia. Scattered across these lands are characters from Disney cartoons past, such as Pegleg Pete and his many relatives, Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle Cow, and even twisted animatronic versions of Mickey’s well-known friends like Goofy and Donald. Nearly everyone you meet has problems needing solving, and this is where the RPG element comes into play.

Disney Epic Mickey is indeed a platformer, and a very good one at that. In fact, the game is reminiscent of the classic Nintendo 64 platformers like Super Mario 64, Banjo-Kazooie and Donkey Kong 64 in many ways, and that’s a compliment. The levels are large and meticulously constructed to take advantage of the dual Paint/Thinner mechanic, with tons of secrets to find and hidden areas to uncover. The game also has dozens of actual quests to complete, however, which range from main story progression to fetching objects for people to repairing Wasteland’s rides. How you accomplish these tasks can vary greatly, and impact events later in the game, both minor and major. Being helpful to certain characters may result in other characters being friendlier to you later on. In some cases bosses will decide you’re not such a bad guy and just let you pass, no battling required.

Show me the Mickey

The one unwelcome similarity to the N64 titles of yore lies is the camera. Disney Epic Mickey’s camera does not handle tight spaces well. Tapping the C button centers the camera behind Mickey – usually – and the D-pad rotates and tilts it – also usually. It’s not uncommon to end up with the camera stuck in a tremendously disadvantageous position while trying to explore nooks and crannies. Sometimes it can seem like you’re somewhere you’re not supposed to be, even though rewards lying in wait indicate you clearly are meant to explore the area in question. Combat can also be more difficult than it should be thanks to the lack of a convenient Z-targeting system. The game checkpoints very generously, so the rare death-by-camera doesn’t rob you of much progress, but immersion is broken often enough to make it a frustration.

Traversing between locations sends you into 2D sidescrolling levels based on classic Disney cartoon shorts. These range from classics like Steamboat Willie and Lonesome Ghosts to more esoteric choices like Plutopia and the old Oswald shorts. They’re very short, often a minute long or so, and you’ll have to repeat a few of them many times due to crossing from one area to another to complete quests. Some may find this irritating, but it’s kind of like being forced to eat a piece of chocolate every time you change locations – sure, you get a little sick of it after a while, but hey, it’s still chocolate.

To All Who Come To This Happy Place: Welcome

That’s a lot of time spent explaining what Disney Epic Mickey is, which I do because I don’t think a lot of people are all that clear on the details of this game. So with that out of the way, how is it? Put simply – it is exceptional. The way all the elements come together in a strange swirl of nostalgia and re-imagination is a constant source of surprise and delight. Every land and location is packed with subtle nods to obscure tidbits of Disneyland and Disney animation history. To its credit, the game never feels the need to explain its references, and not getting some of them won’t damage your enjoyment of the game. Those well versed in the lore, however, may get a little extra kick out of knowing things like the Shadow Blot’s origins as a character in classic Mickey comics called the Phantom Blot, or the slightly off-kilter versions of “It’s A Small World After All” that play as you navigate the Wasteland equivalent of that famous attraction.

The Paint/Thinner duality works extremely well, whether you stick to one approach or simply use whatever you feel is best for each situation. The game is very newbie friendly, always offering a simple way through tougher puzzles and areas, while advanced players can take far more difficult routes to their goals, and are often rewarded in extra ways for doing so.

The game is lengthy, clocking in at around 15 hours for a single playthrough that includes heavy exploration. A second and possibly third playthrough will be necessary to see different quest outcomes, gather collectibles inaccessible the first time, and simply to see how different the game can be based on how you choose to tackle each quest. Perhaps most importantly, there is a weight to the moments between Mickey and Oswald. There is a tangible sense of Disney history in the making in many of their scenes together.

It all started with a mouse
Disney Epic Mickey is the rare ambitious game that manages to hit all of its declared targets. Disney fans (particularly those who love Disneyland) absolutely must play this game. Platformer fans (particularly those who love N64 platformers) absolutely must play this game. If you love meaningful player choice, freeform gameplay, piles of quests to complete, inventive level design, and an ending that can break or warm your heart depending on your decisions, you are Disney Epic Mickey’s target audience. It is relentlessly imaginative, surprisingly thoughtful and strikingly fresh. It takes Mickey Mouse and uses him to do something most modern audiences didn’t think he could: surprise us.

Walt would have loved it.

Comments are Closed

This is a call to the staff of G4 to at least make a page. When will G4 release any info on Disney Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion? Other sites already have the very little info released but at least it is something.There are so many questions! Such as when is it taking place in the franchise of Disney Epic Mickey? The companys working on the game are DreamRift in collabration with Junction Point. It was announced by Disney Interactive Media Group for the 3DS. I have been waiting for you to make a page for what seems like forever, and by forever I mean 3 months (which is a terribly long time for for a game). We see the creations of pages almost immediately for other when announced, so please do Disney Epic Mickey some justice and put up the game. Hey Adam loved it.

Humbly and respectfully disagree with this review. I got a few hours into this (rented it from Gamefly), then got tired of it rather quickly and mailed it back because I was more excited about getting the next game in my queue, which is...Two Worlds II. That's right, Two Worlds II.

Overall this game was fun, but I wasn't as blown away as most seemed to be. The game itself was short and frustrating. The camera was terrible. The mechanics of the paint and thinner left something to be desired. And the excessive amounts of cut scenes really got on my nerves. It never seemed like enough gameplay had taken place to warrant another big cut scene explanation.

Also the fact that you are only able to play through most levels once was a big drawback I felt. In most games you can go back and forth between areas as much as you want in order to collect everything there. I was very disappointed the first time I went to go back to an area and found only a blank projector screen.

The nostalgia and story make the game playable, but I don't think it deserved 5/5 and I wish I had waited to buy it. It was not worth $50.

Overall this game was fun, but I wasn't as blown away as most seemed to be. The game itself was short and frustrating. The camera was terrible. The mechanics of the paint and thinner left something to be desired. And the excessive amounts of cut scenes really got on my nerves. It never seemed like enough gameplay had taken place to warrant another big cut scene explanation.

Also the fact that you are only able to play through most levels once was a big drawback I felt. In most games you can go back and forth between areas as much as you want in order to collect everything there. I was very disappointed the first time I went to go back to an area and found only a blank projector screen.

The nostalgia and story make the game playable, but I don't think it deserved 5/5 and I wish I had waited to buy it. It was not worth $50.

I have a hard time agreeing with this review. There are parts of the game that are imaginative and wonderful, but other parts really take away from the experience. I had issues with the camera throughout the game, whether I messed with the D-pad or not. There are other less important areas in which the gameplay feels unfinished or careless altogether, and to me, the lack of voice acting is extremely disappointing. The grunts made by characters are underwhelming at best and annoying at worst. I liked the game, but I must respectfully disagree with this take on it.

Finally got this game. Love it. I don't have any problem with the camera. I do understand why people are having the problem. I fell into the trappings myself for a bit.

The only time the camera is hard to manage is when you try to manage it excessively. The more you keep your thumb away from the D-Pad, the better the experience is camera wise. Let the camera do it's thing.

I didn't even know the D-Pad controlled the camera till 2 hours into the game. Once I figured that out, I had more problems with the camera because I was so used to managing it (the camera) myself with every other action game. It's sort of just second nature.

Think of the camera like the one in Banjo Kazooie 64. You don't move the camera around by yourself in that game excessively. Hell, if you did, it would (and does) have the same problems Epic Mickey does.

5/5 ? Funny like many major reviewers can disagree with each other. IGN 8/10 ( pretty close, matter of taste), Gamespot 6/10, they actually gave it nomination for most disappointing game of the year. This only confirms my belief that most of major reviewers are pretty bias including G4, IGN and definitely Gamespot.

The only objective feedback is from big number of players. This actually is consistent at 7/10 to 7.5/10.So maybe it's not 5/5 as G4 claims but according to players it's pretty good game.

I noticed that this game was given the nod over Super Mario Galaxy 2 for best adventure game.... This fact is outright absurd. Epic in no way shape or form can compete with the masterpiece that is Super Mario Galaxy 2. To be sure I agree that this game is better than most of the other publications have said it is, but its not a masterpiece.

I am totally confused how is it that G4 gives this a 5 out of 5 (which does not happen often) and both The Totally Rad Show and Weekend confirm can call it an EPIC FAIL and so vehemently hate it, I am really confused, they go as far to calling it a broken game. I have not played it and do not even have a Wii but would get it if it was on the XBOX but what is the truth here. I understand a small to medium difference but from broken to almost perfect/perfect makes no sense. But I guess some people actually liked Nier.

Part 4/4 (final part)-----------Overall... I give "Epic Mickey" the game by itself (as said before) a 8.5/10... I give the overall "Epic Mickey Collector's Set" (gameplay included in factor) 5.5/10... Yes... I give the Collector's set THAT LOW!... For the above mentioned reasons... Sorry Folks, but if you plan to get this game... I highly suggest getting JUST THE GAME...

Unless you are a hardcore collector, like myself... Either in Video Games, Figures or just a big Disney/Mickey Fan... The "Collector's Set" is not worth your time... You will have just as much enjoyment out of the Game by itself as you would with the full set... The game is fun, addictive and brings something new to the table each world you enter! It brings to light some of the lesser known mickey animations and characters ::coughs:: STEAMBOAT WILLIE! And really gives you challenges...I had REALLY hoped for a bit more puzzle work and less Gus the Gremlin... But the more I played this game, the more I really enjoyed it... Again, harking back to the old Banjo-Kazooie feel... It brings back fond childhood memories and really uses today's technology to get you into the game! Even if the storyline IS a bit vague and lacking... This is DEFINITELY a game you want to get yourself, your kids... HECK! Your whole family for this Christmas!... Again, not too happy about the price of the game... maybe wait a little while for it to come down, but for whatever price you buy it at it is DEFINITELY worth it... Just.... Seriously, you all can live without the Collector's Set... The Game will be just the same, just as fun and adventurous as the set... You're not missing a whole lot and could go out and buy the "Epic Mickey Paintbrush Nunchuck" OR "Epic Mickey Wiimote Charger" with that extra cash (which in my opinion should have been included in the Collector's Set... instead of the DVD and skins... I would MUCH RATHER have that Charger! That thing is SICK!! - look below)

So, thank you for reading my review... Please look forward to my Anime and Figure reviews this December AND a special video review on Epic Mickey later on. Thank you!

~ Sixth... I LOVE the layout of this game! The designs are absolutely wonderful... And they REALLY used the graphics to the 100th degree! I only experienced a couple glitches... Like "falling/floating Mickey"... I entered a world Mickey could move around just fine, but he was floating and flying around, in a "Falling" animation... it looks hysterical! Everything is displayed like a theme park! It's as if you're going through all the Disney World (land) theme parks and rides! I love the little Dumbo ride cameo in the beginning too. For those of you who do not know... When Disney World first opened, the Dumbo Ride was it's biggest attraction and had the longest lines, however it broke down about 10+ times... It was a hot, sweltering Florida day... This ride did not make for good business, but ended up becoming one of the world's most FAMOUS amusement park rides and is one of the oldest! People still ride it to this day!... Okay, 'nuff of the history lesson! I love the use of painting, it brings back the reminiscing of old cel shading and painting because that is how animation used to be done (and is still done to this day in some cases) but paint was key from the 1920's and beyond, till computers took over... My only little disappointment... is the dark grunge look, it's hard to see in some areas and distinguish... I really wish I could use the paint in like a billion more spots just to make everything brighter and to restore everything to its former glory not just use paint in certain pre-determined areas... Oh! yeah and the little projection screens? and film edges on the sides? VERY CUTE IDEA! Good job there, Disney!

~ Seventh... simple and quick... the Camera... It took me a long time to figure out how to use the camera... it's a draw back because it can get sticky and does love to take its precious time

~ Eighth... My MOST SERIOUS negative point behind this game... Not being able to go back... I am not sure if I will be able to at a later point in time, but I had to start my ENTIRE game over when I was in the "Small world" themed place... I still needed to fix the tea-cup ride... I got on a boat and went through a tunnel... not realizing I COULD NOT GO BACK?! I wish I would have known that! I had missed SO MUCH! And was unable to leave the tunnel to finish the quests... You REALLY have to be thorough when it comes to this game... and do not move forward... Even when I went to venture into the Colosseum, the gates shut behind me! NO! I still have so much more to finish! So, not only can I not go back while still in the same world... I cannot go back in the projection screens to go back and try to finish the world I just left! This... next to Gus the Gremlin was the BIGGEST if not the worse part of the game... So people, if you're playing this game, be VERY thorough...

~ Ninth.... Save point... This game saves for you automatically for every major threshold you cross... this can be very inconvenient because well... What if I messed up? And I would like to go back and fix something? No... if you crossed one of the game's pre-determined save points... You're screwed... They don't even give the option in the settings to turn this off!! This is convenient so you won't have to save all the time, but is even more of a hassle and more inconvenient because it really can screw you over and you have to be very careful!

~ Tenth and final point... Is the settings... I want to be able to turn on and off my saving options! I want to be able to turn off Gus's voice or his obnoxious explaining! I want to be able to press the A button when watching a important, informative cut-scene so that I can read the whole thing and understand it correctly! These things and more... I did find it cute and very nice that they did put in a "Left-Handed" option here... That was very thoughtful... But, just like their crap instruction booklet... it was extremely vague and not well though-out... As if they just slapped on the settings at the last second without even thinking as to what could be put in it...

~ Epic Mickey Game (Gameplay) 8.5/10:...Okay... Being a reviewer and a collector... I am here to give my un-biased opinion on things and tell it for what it really is. I will not say a game is a 10/10 just based on who made it... The hype before, during and after its release or just how much of a cult following it has. Like many of you, I grew up with Disney. It is in my blood and I pride myself in knowing everything about the studio. Just as I pride myself in knowing everything about Studio Ghibli or CLAMP... I do in fact love American Animation Studios... Disney, Pixar, Dreamworks, and Blue Sky Studios are my absolute favorites... Being an animation student I have spent the last 8-10 years of my life studying these places and love to learn about them! But just because I like them and 90% of the world knows of them, does NOT make every product they crank out the best ever... So with that out of the way so fangirls and fanboys don't persecute me for not giving it a 10/10... here is my reasoning behind the score both good and bad points, there are 10 major things I wanted to point out:

~ First of all... 1 character ruins everything for me...Gus the Gremlin... If Disney could put in the most obnoxious, repetitive and irritating character they could... They found it! Gus the Gremlin almost ruined the whole game for me... He practically NEVER shuts up, even after he has told me how to do things 20x in the first 30 min! Okay, Gus, you told me how to turn this crank... (3 min later)... okay, thanks, I got it... (5 min later)... I get it, Gus... (5 worlds later) I GET IT GUS! STOP TELLING ME!! I Don't need to hear your crap over and over and over again!! Not to mention how he talks... VERY annoying! Hmmm... This reminds of another classic game from the 90's... ANOTHER... Nintendo Game... ::ponders:: what was it? (Mentioned in 5th point)

~ Secondly... the movies explaining things... I LOVED these cut scenes, especially the animation put into them! It was wonderful... but why is this a bad thing?... Simple... they go WAY too fast! There is NO WHERE in the settings where I can change the dialogue speed or at least let me press the A button after I am done reading a portion! No... they just dish out the info and you never have time to read it! While I am trying to watch the little clip and read, the next lines have already come up... So I miss have the information I needed to play! Yes, I know you can watch these in the extras, but this is an inconvenience and I would rather just watch them during gameplay so I can continue playing.

~ Third... The instruction booklet... it's ONLY 4 pages long (basically) no character information, like most games... No going through and explaining what I NEED to know... None of that... they REALLY put no effort at all into this booklet

~ Fourth... What is this game trying to be? Are we trying to be a platformer? or a side-scroller... While some of these are pretty cute in their own sense... I don't like the use of multi-themed functions in a game... This, while some may find to be real awesome, I found to be a big turn-off... So, in my opinion, it hurt the game, but this is based on the player's own taste... So, for this point, you would have to make your own decision...

~ Fifth... I LOVE this banjo-kazooie feel... Which is a good thing because it makes it an enjoyable game for me... It makes it fun for adults and children and is easy to understand! However, this is also a bad point... Telling me that this has been done before. I play alot of games and 99% of games nowadays are not original and all have been done before, but for this reason it makes me a little disappointed and felt like a knock-off... at the same time I love playing it because it makes me want to explore everything and brings back some nostalgia. So this works and doesn't work for me in the end.